1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the exemplary embodiments relate to a management apparatus and a billing method thereof which is connected to at least one image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus may include a photocopier, a printer, a facsimile, and a scanner which output image data or a multi-function peripheral (MFP) which performs at least two of copy, print, scan, fax sending/receiving, e-mail sending and file transmitting functions.
An output amount of the image forming apparatus is stored in a storage unit of the image forming apparatus, and the stored output amount is transmitted to a management server connected to the image forming apparatus at every preset period through a wired/wireless network. The management server manages the output amount to calculate a billing charge corresponding to the output amount of the image forming apparatus.
For example, in the business to business (B2B) market, a supplier of a managed print service (MPS) solution (e.g., an image forming apparatus manufacturer) and a customer (e.g., a user of an image forming apparatus) enter into an agreement to determine at least one image forming apparatus subject to billing, a billing period, a unit price of a mono print per page and a unit price of a color print per page and to calculate a billing charge.
The billing charge is calculated on the basis of the output amount of the at least one image forming apparatus and a unit price per page with respect to the billing period determined according to the billing agreement. The calculated billing charge is billed to the customer of the image forming apparatus.